


Colors of the new world

by LinaLuthor



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Byleth is alone and loves the gremlin in her head, F/F, Modern Era, Reincarnation, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28090602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinaLuthor/pseuds/LinaLuthor
Summary: Byleth grew up feeling alone, surrounded by strangers that she couldn't recognize from her past.The one thing that helped keep her grounded was the voice in her head, the one named Sothis that aided her through life.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Sothis
Kudos: 51





	Colors of the new world

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a drabble that got a bit too long to be posted on Twitter xD anyways, it was written based on Palette, one of my favorite songs from Luka and luckily the song that was given to this crazy pairing ahsjsjaka

Byleth had always felt alone in a strange world. She couldn't tell when it had started, only that the sensation persisted for a long, long time. 

It was as if everything and everyone around her were people she didn't know, hadn't ever known before. Even her parents were odd to her, their words of love and reassurance only colors such as red and black, a mere imprint on her mind instead of the love they meant for her and her alone.

And so Byleth navigated the first years of her life, a quiet child who gave her family no trouble and seemed too wise when it came to Fódlan history; the few times that she did speak, she would say something or another about the past. The level of detail with which she would utter that was enough to challenge and awe the adults around her, the relatives and teachers and doctors who would say she was too bright for her own good and should be placed in advanced classes instead of staying with her year group.

Little did they know the knowledge she had came from a little voice in her head, one that whispered to her of a Fódlan that had stopped being too many years ago. A Fódlan that had seen religion fall to Byleth's and the Emperor's own weapons. A Fódlan that once upon a time was ruled by a goddess, one whose name the childish voice in her head, the girl named Sothis, would claim to not remember. 

But as much as Byleth loved those stories, the way the adults would look at her with something like surprise other than the concern that they usually had etched in their faces when dealing with her, she wished she could see her friends again. To see the emperor that had lived by her side afterwards, an Eldegard or something like that (Edelgard maybe). The songstress that had sung them praises afterwards alongside the Brigid queen she loved. The brave warriors and knights that had stood by their side as they brought an end to those who had ruled in the light of false beliefs as well those who had slithered in the dark.

Yet around her there was nothing but strangers. Strange people and strange souls that hadn't been there with her. Strange colors and words that didn't ring as true as the promises of love and of a brighter future that she had heard from those that had walked with her before.

Except of course for Sothis, the voice in her head. The one that cautioned her to not touch the oven after her mother had baked a cake, to stay away from plugs in the walls or else she would be in pain. To wear a freaking coat in winter and stop stepping into puddles once it rained - there, was she happy now that she was running another fever?

Byleth giggled alongside the companion that felt familiar and known, the person that wasn't all colors and empty words, that grounded her in the reality that was by telling her of the reality that once was. Even though she had made friends as the years went by and she grew older, nothing was as true as the times in which she spoke to Sothis. Nothing was as solid as the voice in her head, the child who became a teen, that grew alongside her but never failed to boss her around for good or for bad.

And of course she wished for Sothis to be real. For that touch of her old reality to become known on this one. For the friendship that had slowly evolved into love to be more than just a hazy, light feeling fluttering in her chest and her mind whenever they spoke, once Byleth was older and understood that what she had experienced for a while could and was called love. 

The problem about being in love with the person in her head, however, was that there was no way to hide her feelings from Sothis, to suffer in silence for the amazing soul she could never meet, touch or kiss. The being she could only look at and admire, listen to and laugh at. 

Until… until the day, at her sixteenth birthday, that she could no longer look, admire, listen to or laugh at Sothis when her voice was no more and her reality was reduced to the rhythm of a modern life.

So Byleth buried the feelings, buried the red and gold and black that were the impossible love that had blossomed in her chest and went through life as if nothing had ever happened. High school turning into college, a degree anda job that she didn't even pay attention to since the mechanics and laws of this new world were too alien and flimsy to her simpler ways, to the solid memories of a time when holding a sword and fighting, then teaching students at a monastery, were the only things she knew. 

And after college was done and she got a job at the same Garreg Mach university that had hosted her for five or so years, becoming the history professor she had always been expected to be, things became even duller, a haze that never left her mind even though to others she was considered an example of success. She had a house, three cats (called Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude for old, old times' sake) and lived comfortably off with it all. 

Yet her mind and her heart knew no comfort whenever she recalled those amazing days spent with Sothis by her side, both back then and in this lifetime. The one thing she couldn't have no matter how hard she worked, how many friends she had or how much money she got at the end of the year, the one that had brought her the most joy and sense of self, was far, far from her reach.

She had pretty much given up on love too, closing her heart in the process since she couldn't have the person she wanted. At first the thought had hurt her, but then she grew used to it and the mere notion of romance faded into another color, a light pink that was irrelevant among the other, stronger hues that were part of her life.

Until… until Byleth found herself in a cafe on a cold winter day, finishing to grade some papers so her students would enjoy (or cry over) the holiday season. The warm coffee and snack she had were enough to bring her some sense of warmth, yet her hands were shaking and turning a bit blueish since she was wearing clothes that were too light for the day, snow falling outside and blanketing everything in whites and greys to the point she had been lucky not to freeze while in the outdoors.

She was so engrossed in her task, her eyes running through the blacks and blues of pens over paper and only stopping once in a while so she could get a bite of her food and some coffee, that she failed to notice the greens of someone's gaze. A very intent, warm gaze that lingered for some minutes before the person they belonged to tutted, shook their head and decided it was time to take matters into their hands. 

That was why Byleth was startled out of a reverie and a terrible response to a simple question on the paper when something soft was draped over her shoulders and arms. Her eyes flew up and widened in surprise, her heart skipping a beat at the very familiar green irises that both mocked and welcomed her with warmth.

"How many times do I have to tell you to wear a coat in winter?"


End file.
